Angie

Angie is the resident foodie of Living the Dream. She seeks out local food, restaurants, farmers markets, and cooking classes wherever she travels. Angie has been on one long-term trip of 465 days along with her husband Jeremy.

Italy is a country with such a rich food culture, and yet sometimes on the tourist trail it can feel like all you see around you are mediocre pizza and pasta joints.

It can be overwhelming or tricky to figure out where to eat and what to eat, and what foods are authentic to the particular region of Italy in which you find yourself (if you’re in Florence, it’s not pizza and pasta).

Luckily, on our recent stay in Florence, we had the opportunity to take a food tour with Walks of Italy Florence where we learned precisely what authentic Florentine cuisine is, and got to try some excellent examples of it.

As with most food tours, the day began in the very early hours of the morning with the request that we come with an empty stomach. As if the challenge was thrown down, we happily obliged.

In our last trip to France, we really went hard eating in Paris. In just a few short days we visited 12 restaurants, bakeries, crepe shops, and coffee houses, and today we wanted to share them with you.

One of the things we were most looking forward to about our recent trip to Spain was devouring churros con chocolate.

Fried to crisp perfection and served alongside rich dark chocolate, these are not your soggy elementary school cafeteria churros bathed in achingly sweet cinnamon sugar.

No, these are grown-up churros.

Everyone has their opinion on who makes the best churros and who makes the best chocolate, so we were eager to set the record straight on this matter while we were in Spain.

The title of best churros con chocolate would be decided in a battle, a battle where only the best, crispiest churros and deepest, darkest chocolate sauces come out alive. This is Churros con Chocolate Death Battle Royale!

Madrid seemed to be the epicenter of the churros con chocolate phenomena, so we decided the battle would take place there. The contenders? Restaurante Hegar, Chocolateria San Gines, and Valor.

Three go in, but only one can come out the victor of this death battle.

The 17-course tasting menu at La Oliva in Granada might best be described as a religious experience: for just one evening, Jeremy and I got to experience food and wine so good that words do not do it justice, food that made us feel like we were being let in on a secret of sorts.

This might all sound a bit dramatic, but I’m being completely serious. The food, wine, and atmosphere at La Oliva were simply that good.

But we can't keep this secret to ourselves, as the world must know about this amazing treasure of Granada.